


let's fly somewhere pretty

by windigop



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons!Miruko, Durmstrang!Hawks, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, First Time, For the most part, Gen, M/M, Pining, Slytherin!Dabi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27732349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windigop/pseuds/windigop
Summary: They eventually managed to calm each other down and press up against the doors again, just in time for Nezu to announce, "—Hogwarts champion is Touya Todoroki!"A roar, the Hogwarts students were standing up to cheer—people were stamping their feet on the ground, it was impossible to even think over the din.After the initial shock of,there's another Todoroki sibling?Keigo blinked rapidly, trying to catch a glimpse of him.Rumi nudged him. "To your left," she hissed.His neck cracked from how fast he turned. Cutefamily, he thought in a daze.-International Quidditch star Keigo Takami, better known as Hawks, competes in the Triwizard Tournament and falls head over heels for his competition Touya Todoroki.
Relationships: Dabi/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Takami Keigo | Hawks/Todoroki Touya
Comments: 23
Kudos: 130





	1. The Triwizard Tournament

Hogwarts was just as beautiful as Keigo had imagined. The ceiling had been charmed to reflect the clear night sky outside, smatterings of bright stars dusted across its canvas giving off pinpricks of silvery light. It had been a chilly October afternoon when the selected twelve Durmstrang students had left for Hogwarts on their ship, but sitting underneath the glow of the candles in the Great Hall, amidst the chattering wizards and witches from three of the great wizarding schools, Keigo’s body was flushed with a warmth that had nothing to do with the matted furs he and the rest of the Durmstrang students wore.

Not for the first time, Keigo wished that they could have arranged for the visiting students to bunk in the Hogwarts dorms; while the Durmstrang ship—currently docked outside in the Black Lake—was magicked to comfortably house the Durmstrang students and its Headmistress, regular school policies still held true within its massive confines—fires were only to be lit for magical purposes.

Keigo was already in his last year at Durmstrang and yet he’d never gotten used to the brisk temperatures in the castle and of the winter season. He was never seen traipsing around campus without his fur-lined coat, and he suspected that more students would have sneered openly at him had he not been the Musutafu International Quidditch Team’s star seeker.

Coming off the high (or should it be low?) of the summer’s Quidditch Cup had perhaps thrust him even more into international stardom. It hadn’t been his intention to deliberately lose the cup for his team but still grab the snitch; he let the sports journals and gossip columns speculate all they wanted. In his mind at the time, he’d wanted to settle things on his terms. And yes, maybe he’d gotten a little cocky and carried away in the heat of the moment, but he was still young—just shy of eighteen in a few months—he would have plenty of opportunities to compete.

It couldn’t have gotten any more perfect until the Durmstrang Headmistress, Sayaka Kinoshita, had announced that they were to spend most of the school year at Hogwarts, who were hosting the revived Triwizard Tournament. Keigo knew he was going to participate—was _expected_ to participate—as soon as the word "compete" left her mouth, before she fixed her chilling gaze at him over the rim of her glasses. His fellow classmates shifted and murmured amongst themselves, rippling with anticipation, conversations charged with something bristling and not altogether friendly.

Keigo lifted an eyebrow at her in return, challenging, self-assured. He wondered how the champions were to be chosen, if Kinoshita was going to influence the odds of whatever objective entity would choose _him_. He tuned out the rest of her speech, no doubt she had found yet another way to exalt the virtues that Durmstrang would continue to uphold, of the accomplishments that would continue Durmstrang's upward rise as one of the top wizarding schools in the world, in spite of all the, _ahem_ , challenges that they faced.

Keigo's lips curled in derision and self-loathing. It was no secret that he was one of—possibly the only—non-Pureblood attending the school. His father had been a deadbeat Muggle-born who'd up and left him and his Halfblood mother when he was ten years old. If he hadn't been discovered several months after that and whisked away to train for Quidditch—he didn't like to think about where he'd be now.

His recruiters had touted his magical potential as prodigal, and had even caught Kinoshita's eye so that she'd pulled some strings and enrolled him at Durmstrang despite the fact that he was practically a Muggle. It was no secret that she was a Quidditch fanatic. To this day, he still couldn't decide whether he hated or admired her. She was clearly biased in her favoritism towards him, and that had alienated him early on from the rest of the student body. She also loved pointing out his blood status whenever given chance; he was her charity case, a success story that gave her enough publicity and news headlines that she could quit her job whenever she wanted and retire comfortably. He jokingly called her his handler once, to which she responded with a humorless glare and her signature raised eyebrow; he'd made sure to call her that every chance he got.

Now finally at Hogwarts, Keigo let himself revel in the toasty warmth of the Great Hall, barely paying attention to the Hogwarts Headmaster, Nezu, welcome the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and introduce the Triwizard Tournament. Snatches of the speech filtered through Keigo's attention— _once again encouraging inter-house, and most importantly, inter-school unity._ He glanced around the hall, noticing for the first time that the four rows of tables and benches had been purposely delineated as such. The four banners of each of the houses hung over the respective rows. Looking up at the gold and black banner, Keigo saw that he'd seated himself at the Hufflepuff table.

He wondered which house he'd be sorted into. Kinoshita had shot him a disapproving look when he'd sat down, and while Keigo loved to piss her off, it'd clearly meant that she'd intended for him to sit elsewhere. She couldn't blame him for sitting at the first table he saw if all she told her students was to _mingle with the other schools, don't all sit together._ Keigo was the only Durmstrang student to sit at the Hufflepuff table; the rest of his classmates had mostly swarmed to Slytherin, so whoops, he'd chosen wrong. But he'd likely attracted even more attention to himself, and Keigo absolutely _preened_ in the spotlight. He was going to rub it in her face after dinner, if only to continue to piss her off.

Keigo turned to a Beauxbatons student to his right and whispered, "You gonna do it?"

"Fuck yeah," she replied without turning around. Her long, silvery hair shone under the warm glow of the floating candles, casting cool-toned highlights on her dark skin. Keigo found himself transfixed by it; he'd always been attracted to shiny things.

"Aren't you gonna ask me if I am?"

She finally turned to fix him with a dry look, humor dancing in her red eyes. "My apologies. What about _you_?"

"Of course I am," he said with his most self-assured smirk. "Do you even know who I am?"

Without missing a beat, she said, "You think just because you're the internationally-acclaimed star Quidditch seeker Keigo Takami, ay-kay-ay Hawks, that you'd just assume that I'd know you or something?"

He held her gaze for a split-second before he let out a snort. It was louder than he'd intended, because Kinoshita glared at him again, and he felt the entire student body turn to look at him. Keigo covered his mouth and kept his eyes at the ceiling. Nezu continued his speech without even blinking.

She was still snickering and he nudged her to keep quiet. "Stop laughing," he whined. "You got me in trouble."

"Aw, does wittle Hawks want his bottle?"

"Yes, _Keigo_ does," he sniffed. "And some snacks too, I'm frickin' starving."

"Ugh, same. I hope the food's good here."

Keigo grinned. "I'm Keigo, by the way. Uh, but you already knew that."

"Rumi." She mirrored his grin. "And wow, you know you have the same first name as the ultra-famous Musutafian Quidditch seeker, Keigo Takami?"

He gasped in mock awe. "Oh my god, really? That dude is my idol. He's _so_ hot. Is he single?"

Rumi scrunched her nose. "If you're into twinks like that, I guess I can see the appeal. And I'm not sure, _is_ he single?"

"Oof, so not your type?" He raised his arm inconspicuously and kept his wrist limp, leaving his hand flat as his fingers pointed downwards, giving her an urgent questioning gaze. He mouthed, "Single as fuck."

She smothered a laugh and nodded. "Definitely not my type."

Keigo rested his chin in the palm of his raised hand, leaning his elbow on the table. "I think I'm falling in love with you, Rumi."

That earned him a bruising punch in the arm. "Feeling's mutual, Keigo." They dissolved into more giggles.

"...and I ask that everyone stays behind after dinner for one more announcement. Now, tuck in!" Nezu raised his arms with flourish.

Dishes upon dishes sprang onto the table top before them. Keigo didn't need to be told twice.

Dealing with nosy paparazzi and clamboring fans had long become second nature to Keigo. He'd never been the reclusive kind of celebrity—he was still young, he didn't have much to hide, anyway, and his _story_ , so-called, only helped him attract more positive reviews. To the press, he was a rags-to-riches phoenix born from the ashes of his sordid childhood. To the masses, and his fans, he was a relatable, charismatic teenager thrust into the spotlight after being discovered on the streets. _If Hawks can do it, then I can do it too_ , was the image that his publicity team had conjured for him.

He'd learned to wear that image like a second skin. Hawks always had time for his fans, always had time to sign things, to take pictures. He welcomed the attention, basked in it, even. Keigo had become so good at wearing his Hawks persona that he didn't even give a second thought to the Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students approaching him the second dinner started. He'd barely managed to shove a spoonful of pumpkin soup in his mouth before he had to start fielding autograph requests. It did not take long for a short line to start forming at his table.

_Too bad cell phones still didn't work too well with magic_ , he thought. It would've been so much quicker to snap a photo than to scramble for a quill and sign his name.

While the constant attention was an everyday occurrence for Keigo, he'd forgotten that it would be a huge shock to a non-celebrity like Rumi. She'd thought that the first few autograph requests had been cute, laughing in commiseration when they'd stumble over their words or when they would blush and refuse to make eye contact with Keigo. Then they grew bolder as they saw that Keigo wouldn't turn any of them away, and they eagerly rushed to queue up, elbowing and jostling their way to catch a glimpse, talk to him, even just reach out and touch him, as if they couldn't believe he was real.

After the first errant elbow caught Rumi's shoulder and earned the unfortunate assailant a sharp reprimand from her, they'd learned to avoid the grouchy Beauxbatons student. But there were too many of them, and Rumi's patience was visibly wearing thin. The pushing had started, and someone fell into her; she dropped her spoon into her soup, turning a murderous eye toward Keigo. His own eyes widened and he hurriedly waved his hands to draw their attention.

"Hey guys," he laughed, "thanks for all the attention tonight, but I'd really like to finish eating before all the food gets cold! I promise I'll get to everyone tomorrow or something. Thank you for understanding!"

Groans and shouts of, "no fair!" rippled through the line, but they dispersed without more of a fuss. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to his food.

"Sorry about that, Rumi!" He laughed again at her sour expression. "I, uh, forgot how intense they can be."

"After dealing with those crazies, I'm expecting a proper apology gift after this," she warned.

"How 'bout some merch? I hear scalpers have been having a field day with the latest line."

"Deal."

"Woah, you agreed to that _way_ too fast."

"Damn, my nefarious plans have been revealed."

"Okay, I know we're doing a bit, but we _just_ became friends." Keigo's laugh turned nervous. He felt his heartrate skyrocket. He really liked Rumi, but if she turned out to be another person just trying to make a quick galleon, he didn't know what he'd do.

She caught on quickly to his change in mood. "Yeah, don't worry, keep your merch."

Keigo relaxed and turned back to his food. "You're still getting some," he said between mouthfuls. "For free. 'Cuz it pisses upper management off when I do that."

Rumi snorted but didn't reply.

"Just take me somewhere fancy when you're thousands of galleons richer," he added, wiping his mouth. He wiggled his eyebrows.

" _Hello_? You're taking me to Hogsmeade as soon as we can go!"

"Hey!" He waved a finger at her mockingly. "Don't bite the hand that feeds—"

"Um, Mr. Hawks?" A hand tapped him gently on the shoulder.

He whipped around, eyelashes fluttering. "Wow, _Mister_ Hawks, never heard that one before!"

A girl, probably around his age, with short pale hair and wide blue-green eyes flushed and stepped back in apology. "Sorry," she stammered. "I know you've probably gotten a lot of requests by now, and I completely understand if you just want to eat in peace—"

"No worries!" Keigo cut in with a laugh, noting a younger boy with the same shade of pale hair standing next to her with an eager expression. "Do you have a quill, a name I can make this out to?"

The girl's shoulders relaxed. Out of the corner of his eye, Keigo saw Rumi turn to watch her with interest.

"I'm Fuyumi. And if you wouldn't mind, it's for—"

"Me! Natsuo," the boy burst out, as if he could no longer hold back his own words. He thrust out some parchment and a quill. "A-and my little brother, Shouto." He ushered out a smaller boy from behind him, who peered up at Keigo with wide, mismatched eyes from under his two-toned hair. He couldn't have been older than a second year.

_Cute family_ , he thought.

Out loud, he said, "Anything for the one who called me Mister Hawks!" When she flushed he quickly assuaged her, "Seriously, I've never been called Mister Hawks—it makes me feel fancy!" Satisfied when she responded with a relieved laugh, he turned to the youngest kid. "You're Shouto, right? You got a last name, Shouto?"

"Todoroki," he said, voice solemn.

Recognition sparked in Keigo's mind. The name sounded familiar—was Todoroki a Quidditch name? The thought nagged at him as he signed the parchment with flourish.

"There ya go, bud!" he announced, handing the parchment back. Shouto grasped it gently, as if he were afraid of tearing the paper. "Wanna read it out loud?"

Shouto squinted at Keigo's chicken scratch. "To Shouto Todoroki. Wishing you...all the best...plus ultra. Love...Hawks." He turned his gaze back up to meet Keigo's. "Thank you very much, Mister Hawks," he said quietly. "I'll keep it safe." Fuyumi smiled warmly down at her younger brother, mussing his hair a little.

"Aw, stop, I'm blushing," Keigo replied reflexively. But the look on Shouto's serious face told him that his sentiment was genuine. Swallowing a sudden lump in his throat, Keigo turned back to the middle Todoroki sibling. "You can just call me Keigo! Your turn, Natsuo! Sorry to keep you waiting."

Natsuo was decidedly more flustered at Keigo's attention, and pulled out another scrap of parchment from his robes. "We saw you at the Quidditch Cup!" he blurted out, while Keigo was bent over writing. "You were amazing! Have you ever tried to measure how fast you go? 'Cuz we could barely keep an eye on you even with the omnioculars!"

"I actually haven't," Keigo said absentmindedly, still trying to place where he'd heard of _Todoroki_. "But that's a good idea! Are you on a Quidditch team here?"

"I'm a beater for Gryffindor." Natsuo puffed out his chest with pride. "'Yumi used to be a chaser before she had to study for her O.W.L's, and then even though she got, like, a bajillion of them, she said she might not try out again this year! Shouto wanted to try out last year but they said he was too young, so maybe this year will be the year!"

"That's awesome!" Keigo scribbled one more line about Quidditch and returned the slip to Natsuo. "Too bad there's no Quidditch Cup this year, it would've been fun to see all the teams compete."

Natsuo flushed and scratched at his spiky hair. "We all probably would've been too nervous knowing Hawks was watching."

Keigo laughed and waved off the comment with his usual modest niceties. "Well, I should probably get back to my dinner! Thanks for saying hi—it was really great meeting—" He gasped as the name _Todoroki_ finally fell into place. "Wait a minute!" he said excitedly. "Holy shi—holy shoot! Todoroki! I _knew_ why that sounded so familiar—you guys are—Todoroki, as in, _Enji_ _Todoroki_?"

Fuyumi's expression became drawn and Natsuo's eyebrows pulled together in a frown; Shouto's expression barely changed. Internally, Keigo winced. He'd obviously broached onto sensitive territory. Trying to lighten the mood, he said, "That guy was my hero. I wanted to be an auror for so long because of him. Probably woulda actually done it if I hadn't gone into Quidditch! Anyway," he barreled on, "you probably get enough fanboying about your dad, so uh, it was honestly _really_ nice talking to you guys! Feel free to say hi if we see each other around!"

He waved at them as they left and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Smooth," Rumi commented.

"Shut up. That was awkward. Holy shit. I've embarrassed myself in front of the great auror Enji Todoroki's progeny. Do they look like they never wanna see me again?"

"They're tearing up their autographs as we speak."

" _What_?" He made to stand up, but Rumi tugged him back down impatiently.

"They're like kids during Christmas! You're _fine_ , jesus. You can stop the theatrics, Miss Drama Queen."

Keigo huffed and downed the rest of his food, already eyeing the dessert that was now appearing on the table.

"You know who else is fine—"

Rumi shushed him and motioned to Nezu, who'd stood up again to finish his explanation of the Triwizard Tournament.

"The champions for the Triwizard Tournament," Nezu said, "will be chosen by an impartial selector. The Goblet of Fire."

He brandished his wand and tapped the top of a large casket in front of him. The lid creaked open, students, teachers, even the ghosts, all waiting with bated breath. Nezu reached in and produced a large filigreed cup. As soon as he placed it back on the now-closed casket, blue-white flames appeared with a loud _whoosh_ , climbing higher than three feet in the air before settling back within the goblet's brim, dancing wildly. Keigo was entranced. He felt like he was back on the field at the World Cup; he was flying thousands of feet in the air, his only company the cold wind stinging his cheeks and the pounding of his heart in his ears.

The way to submit their names to be chosen seemed rather anticlimactic, but the champions would be revealed the very next night. The Great Hall grew restless with students already scrambling to find their quills and parchment, whispering anxiously amongst each other.

"How many do you think will try to get past the Age Line?" Keigo asked Rumi conspiratorially.

She huffed out a laugh. "I think we'll all watch the first couple idiots try and that'll be enough to discourage anyone else."

Nezu finished his speech and bid everyone good night.

"Well," Keigo said regretfully. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow." He tried not to sound too hopeful, but from the look Rumi was giving him she was not fooled.

She laughed and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I'll walk you to your ship."

"What a gentle-lady," he cooed.

Rumi rolled her eyes and punched him again. She waved good night to a few of her Beauxbatons classmates as they walked past; Keigo could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy at their easy camaradarie.

"Stop looking so constipated." Rumi slung an arm around his shoulders. "You're gonna get wrinkles."

Keigo scrunched his nose harder, grinning when that elicited a laugh. "Meet after breakfast? We can enter together." It was off-season for Quidditch, but he'd still need to wake up early to keep up his conditioning. Just because he was a student did not mean he got a free pass at missing his training.

When he arrived at the Durmstrang ship, the late October chill had still not fully seeped into the wooden panels. He gathered as much of his furs and blankets and piled them on top of him. When he slept, he dreamed of crackling blue-white flames and the crowd chanting his name as he held the trophy overhead: _Hawks! Hawks! Hawks!_

Keigo woke up the next day with a queasy feeling in his stomach, trying to cling onto snatches of his dream. As he fully rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the dream had already slipped through his memory, water through a sieve. He tamped down the pit in his stomach and stretched. The rest of the ship was quiet, save for the occasional creak as it rocked on the waves of the lake. Kinoshita had prepared a private room for him, but if he strained his ears he could make out the snores and sleep sounds of the rest of the Durmstrang students. He stretched and changed into a comfortable outfit before quietly leaving the ship to practice his flying drills.

Breakfast had almost finished clearing up by the time Keigo had finished his Quidditch conditioning and sprinted to the Hogwarts castle, aiming drying spells haphazardly at his hair and clothes. Rumi met him at the entrance hall, tossing him a blueberry muffin. He wolfed it down gratefully.

"Life saver," he sighed as he finished. He did a double-take when he fully glanced over at his new friend. She was wearing a light blue fuzzy sweater that stretched tightly across her arms, black Muggle jeans disappearing into black boots. "What the—Rumi—you're _jacked_. You could definitely take this whole thing single-handedly!" As an afterthought, "And definitely step on me. In a good way."

Rumi winked. "You know it." She gestured towards the goblet, which was sitting on a stool in the center of the hall. A large number of students, mostly Hogwarts and some Beauxbatons, were already milling around, examining the Goblet and the Age Line around it and whoever dared to enter their name. Keigo knew that all his fellow Durmstrang students had likely already entered their names last night.

"Shall we?"

Keigo approached the goblet with his slip of parchment clutched in his fist. Something fluttered in his stomach—nerves, excitement, anticipation—he was acutely aware of the students' eyes on him. A larger crowd was starting to gather. Stopping right in front of the cup, Keigo held his breath and let the parchment flutter into the flames. It sizzled, turning red and sparking, before reverting back to the wild blue-white that was permanently etched on Keigo's retinas now. He felt a calm wash over him, as the students applauded and cheered for him. He aimed a grin and a sheepish wave before bounding out of the Age Line with Rumi right behind him. They giggled like a pair of giddy first years.

"You'll probably get it," Rumi told him. They walked out of the hall together. "Even the Goblet of Fire can't stay objective when it comes to the Great Quidditch Seeker Hawks."

Keigo shrugged. "Who would?" He burst out laughing and avoided a punch.

"Whatever. I'll see you later—Madame Ryuuko wants us to make up the lessons we missed yesterday."

Heart sinking, Keigo plastered on a grin and waved. "I'll probably go terrorize a first year into giving me the grand tour. Or do my homework. But the first option sounds more fun."

The sun shone bright overhead. He placed a hand over his forehead to watch her walk to the giant horse-drawn carriage, visible at the edge of the Forbidden Forest even from where he was standing. A few more of her classmates joined her part way and they walked together.

Keigo turned around with a small sigh, only to be greeted with a growing crowd of hopeful smiles. He laughed. "I did promise I'd finish the autographs today, huh? All right, everyone, let's all form a neat and orderly line going this way—and no pushing please!"

He dutifully signed every scrap of parchment thrust his way, but his thoughts were solely on the goblet and the imminent Triwizard Tournament. Tonight could not come any faster.


	2. The Champions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the positive feedback!
> 
> Quick disclaimer, all of the dialogue related to the Triwizard Tournament was taken from the Harry Potter books
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Using this as an escape while I reel from the recent manga chapters ;_;

Keigo was on his way back to the Durmstrang ship to meet with Kinoshita and his classmates right before the Halloween feast when he bumped into Shouto Todoroki.

He'd brought two of his friends, one of whom had a mop of unruly green hair and looked as if he was going to faint, vomit, or implode. Or all of the above, as the three second years closed the distance between them and Keigo. His other friend was...hard to read. Dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes. The only indication that he was nervous was the constant wringing of his hands together.

"Shouto!" Keigo called brightly. "Great to see you again!"

It really said something about Keigo's social situation that he'd be as excited as he was to see three twelve-year-olds, but he chose not to dwell on on the thought too much. Trust Kinoshita to select the exact eleven Durmstrang students that Keigo did not get along with to accompany them to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. She could cite magical talent, skill, and drive all she wanted, Keigo knew that this was her way to isolate him from his peers so he wouldn't be distracted by friendships or other matters she deemed too trivial for him from achieving glory and victory for Durmstrang.

That plan, Keigo was discovering with muted delight, had backfired spectacularly on Kinoshita. If Keigo really was going to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire—and he didn't doubt that it would—and participate in the tournament, he'd sooner tap out from exhaustion from the overeager students scrambling for his autograph than whatever trials the tournament was going to throw at him. Even having one or two people he could hang around with around campus would be enough to deter at least some of the students from bothering him.

Randomly sitting next to Rumi on the first night had been such serendipity that Keigo could hardly focus all day. They'd bonded so quickly that it felt as if he'd known her for ten years instead of ten hours. He'd sorely missed her company and wit when they'd separated, and he was painfully aware that while he didn't have any other friends at Hogwarts, she still had her own group of friends with her from Beauxbatons. He hoped that Rumi felt the same about their friendship as he did.

Human relationships were strange and could be complex to navigate; he knew as well how exceedingly rare that two strangers could meet by chance and click as easily as he and Rumi had. He didn't want to let go of something that he'd had the fortune of accidentally stumble upon when most of the world would go the rest of their lives without ever finding that for themselves.

All that aside, Keigo genuinely liked the youngest Todoroki. There was childlike hesitation in his eyes that belied the stoic way he carried himself. Keigo could also tell how much his older siblings cared for him; something about seeing a caring family together made his heart squeeze in his chest.

"I brought my friends," Shouto said shyly. "They wanted to meet you."

"Well, any friend of Shouto's is a friend of mine!" Keigo found that he actually meant what he said; his social life was truly a sad sight to behold.

The green-haired bundle of nerves was Izuku Midoriya, who immediately launched into a rapid-fire rundown of all of Hawks' best plays and statistics. Keigo was impressed and a little overwhelmed, to say the least. The third friend, Fumikage Tokoyami, was more reserved, but proved to be just as knowledgeable of the nuances of Quidditch, occasionally chiming in with his own analyses and observations from following Hawks' career. He was in the midst of trying out as Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and asked Keigo for advice on his form.

"Hey, listen," Keigo interrupted Izuku's stream of consciousness monologue, "I'm running late to the Halloween feast and I don't wanna hold you guys up, but hey! How about we meet up some time before tryouts and I'll give you a practical demonstration?"

Izuku looked like he was going to cry. Shouto and Fumikage perked up and agreed enthusiastically.

"All right, see you guys around!" Keigo waved as he trotted off, mentally preparing himself for Kinoshita's passive-aggressive remarks about his tardiness.

Behind him, he heard a faint, "Oh no! I forgot to ask him for his autograph!"

"Do not fear, Midoriya. The darkness always finds a way."

Fondness tugged the corners of Keigo's lips into a smile.

Predictably, Kinoshita was less than pleased when Keigo showed up almost half an hour after the agreed upon time.

"Thank you for finally deigning to grace us with your presence, Takami," she said in lieu of a greeting. "It is always heartwarming to see how well you embody the core values of Durmstrang."

"My bad," was all Keigo said in reply, winking at an unamused girl behind her.

In the end, the Durmstrang representatives had arrived at the Great Hall only shortly after Beauxbatons, although Keigo was sure no one would've paid any attention to begin with. The entire hall was buzzing with impatient energy; the students fidgeted nervously, some craning to watch Nezu converse calmly with the professors at his side, others chattering excitedly about who they thought the Goblet would choose.

Keigo waved at the Todoroki's at the Gryffindor table, gave a cheeky salute to Rumi and her friends at the Ravenclaw table. He spotted Fumikage eating his dinner at the Hufflepuff table and planted himself right next to the dark-haired boy.

Fumikage startled. "Mister Takami!"

"Please, Keigo's fine."

"Keigo," he hastened to correct himself, "I—good evening. I did not imagine that you would choose to seat yourself beside me. I am honored."

Keigo chuckled at the boy's mannerisms. "No worries, man. Just think of me as any other upperclassman. And an honorary Hufflepuff, if you'll have me."

"We of House Hufflepuff welcome you with open arms," Fumikage said.

Keigo gave him a thumb's up and set about filling his golden plate full of food. He studied the floating pumpkin heads and the other Halloween decorations as he chewed thoughtfully. The sky was cloudy, inky blackness swathed in grays and blues. It was a new moon; there was barely enough light to illuminate the night sky.

"Mister—Keigo. Am I correct in assuming that you placed your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

He nodded, eyes still darting around the Great Hall. "You assume correctly."

"Are you...nervous? I don't mean to cast doubt on your prowess, but Headmaster Nezu made the dangers of this tournament very clear to us. I believe half of the past champions have all perished due to the nature of the tasks."

Keigo laughed, finally turning to face the boy, who was looking at him earnestly. "I haven't even been chosen yet! There's still a chance I'm not even gonna be in this thing. I'm not gonna let myself get stressed out over something that's not a hundred percent. But—even _if_ I get chosen, I'm not someone who's gonna die that easily."

Fumikage still did not look very convinced, but he nodded in acceptance of Keigo's words. "Very well. _When_ you are chosen, I hope you know that we—myself, Midoriya, Todoroki, the rest of our friends—will be whole-heartedly supportive of you."

"Aw thanks man, but you should probably save some of that energy for the Hogwarts champion."

"We can still cheer for both champions," he said, jaw set.

Keigo put his hands up in acquiescence. "All right, all right, I guess I should just shut up and say thanks, huh?"

"Yes. You're very welcome." Fumikagi returned his attention to his food.

Keigo huffed out another laugh. He was starting to become really fond of the underclassman. Kids these days were really something. Not that he was much older, although it certainly felt that way sometimes.

The Halloween feast was cleared as quickly as it had been laid out. Nezu stood up, and a hush fell over the hall. With a wave of his wand, the flickering candle lights were extinguished. Only the frozen smiles from the jack-o-lanterns suspended in the air provided another source of light. In front of Nezu, the wild flames from the Goblet of Fire glowed brightly in the dim hall.

Nezu announced in a strong, clear voice, "The Goblet is about to make its decision. When the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please walk along the staff table and enter the next chamber, where they will receive their first instructions."

Students, teachers, portraits, ghosts alike held their breaths as the flames turned a blazing red. It sparked, and from within the flames shot out a burning, blackened parchment. Nezu seized the slip, casting a brief downward glance before sweeping an authoritative gaze over the hushed students.

"The champion for Durmstrang—"

Despite his earlier bravado, Keigo found himself holding his breath. A flicker of doubt lit in his mind. He wondered what Kinoshita would do if he wasn't actually chosen. His heart pounded in his chest, his whole body was tense with anticipation—

"—will be Keigo Takami."

Cheers and applause erupted around him. He expelled the breath he was holding, adopting an easy grin as he slid off of the dining bench. From the staff table, Kinoshita gave him a grim smile. He nodded at Nezu and Madame Tatsuma as he approached and veered left to enter the next chamber.

Once inside, the shouting and applause still ringing in his ears, Keigo allowed himself to pump his fist in celebration. He willed his heartrate to slow down and peeked through the double doors. He had a decently clear view of all four house tables from where he was standing, holding his breath again when the second parchment emerged from the Goblet's red flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Rumi Usagiyama!"

The Great Hall once again fell into a state of excited chatter and applause. Rumi rose from her seat gracefully, tangling her fingers briefly with her cheering Beauxbatons friends and striding proudly to join Keigo in the room.

She squealed when she entered, and Keigo whooped loudly as the two of them embraced. They talked quickly, overjoyed, their loud exclamations overlapping with each other.

"Oh my god I can't believe—"

"— _dude_ what the actual fuck—"

"You are _so_ going down, Takami—"

" _Please_ , as if—"

They eventually managed to calm each other down and press up against the doors again, just in time for Nezu to announce, "—Hogwarts champion is Touya Todoroki!"

A roar, the Hogwarts students were standing up to cheer—people were stamping their feet on the ground, it was impossible to even think over the din.

After the initial shock of, _there's another Todoroki sibling?_ Keigo blinked rapidly, trying to catch a glimpse of the other wizard. He quickly picked out Shouto's half white, half red hair. Natsuo and Fuyumi clapped and cheered from nearby, but he wasn't at the Gryffindor table. The loudest, most enthusiastic cheers were coming from the table underneath the green and silver banner, which meant—the last Todoroki was a Slytherin.

Interest shooting up, Keigo craned his neck to find him, keeping an eye out for white or red hair.

Rumi nudged him. "To your left," she hissed.

His neck cracked from how fast he turned. Cute _family_ , he thought in a daze.

Touya Todoroki was tall, lanky under the Hogwarts robes. His hair was _black_ —natural or dyed? Keigo found himself wondering, mouth dry. Something on his ears and nose glinted under the dim lighting, although Keigo couldn't be sure from this distance.

He slouched when he stood, body relaxed yet confident. An arrogant smirk touched his lips. He bumped a fist with a blond boy next to him and strode towards the chamber, hands in his pockets. His manner was lazy, eyes half mast. He walked as though he had all the time in the world. Keigo strained to catch the color of his eyes, admiring the paleness of his skin, the slope of his upturned nose, the cut of his cheekbones.

"Stop drooling." Rumi yanked Keigo away from the door, towards the crackling fireplace at the opposite wall. He yelped in surprise.

"You're welcome for not letting you embarrass yourself," she said with a smirk.

"I wasn't drooling," he muttered, wiping at his mouth.

"Just remember that he's competition." Rumi quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed.

Keigo leered at her. "You know what they say, keep your friends close, but your enemies—"

A gust of warm air swirled across the back of Keigo's neck. He shivered and turned. Like a magnet, his eyes slid to lock in place with Todoroki's. They were the same blue-green as Fuyumi's and Shouto's one eye, but there was an intensity in this Todoroki's that was lacking in his siblings'. His gaze was heavy, calculating, and they held Keigo in place. He swallowed, ready to charm him as he did with the rest of the Todoroki's, but his mind was blank. He coughed.

Rumi muttered something under breath before projecting her voice, "Nice to meet you, Todoroki. I'm Rumi, this is Keigo."

Todoroki blinked. The spell was broken. Keigo coughed again and focused on the silver hoops in one of his ears, trying not to think too hard about the matching hoops in his nostril and lower lip.

He waved. "Yo, Todoroki! Nice to meet ya." Was this a good time to bring up his brothers and sister? Were they even close? It was pretty clear that they had different interests, given the opposing houses and the fact that Touya hadn't been there the other night to get his autograph for his younger brothers.

"Charmed," Todoroki drawled in a tone that indicated he was not actually charmed to see the two of them. He slinked to the other side of the mantel and leaned against the wall, looking bored.

Keigo shuffled awkwardly, torn between wanting to make conversation to leave a good impression and sticking with Rumi, who seemed less than impressed with Todoroki's greeting, rolling her eyes at Keigo.

He was saved from making a decision when the doors swung open and the heads of the three schools strode in, accompanied by two people who Keigo did not recognize. Madame Tatsuma immediately placed herself next to Rumi, giving her a warm hug. Kinoshita placed a stiff hand on Keigo's shoulder. Nezu shook Todoroki's head with a hearty congratulations, before introducing the two guests as the heads of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Hizashi Yamada, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, said in a booming voice that made his vibrant yellow pompadour vibrate with unseen electricity, "Well, no time to waste, is there? Shouta, would you like to do the honors?"

Shouta Aizawa faced the champions and the respective school heads with unblinking bloodshot eyes. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. In dry monotone, he explained the tournament rules and regulations. Keigo almost let out a snort when Aizawa stated that champions were exempt from end-of-year tests. He wouldn't put it past Kinoshita to force him to take remedial lessons over the summer to make those tests up.

"The first task is designed to test your daring, so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is a crucial quality in a wizard or witch. The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth in front of the other students and the panel of judges." He turned to Nezu. "That is all."

"We'll be off!" Yamada said in the same loud tones as before. He and Aizawa swept out of the room.

"I encourage you all to rest up tonight," Nezu said. "There is still plenty of time to prepare in the weeks to come."

The rest of the heads of schools said their final words to their champions and followed Nezu out the chamber. The champions followed suit. Keigo hugged Rumi good-bye as she split off from them to the Beauxbatons carriage. She and Todoroki exchanged a terse farewell before Keigo became uncomfortably aware that it was just the two of them. Unsure of the exact reason he decided not to leave with Rumi for the Durmstrang ship, Keigo found himself walking rapidly to keep pace with Todoroki's long strides.

They walked in silence, the wrapped around them like an uncomfortably thick and heavy blanket. Keigo wracked his brain for something to say, feeling uncharacteristically tongue-tied.

It was Todoroki who broke the silence. His voice was low and raspy. It sent shivers down Keigo's spine. "Are you lost? The ship's that way." He pointed his thumb in the direction opposite to where they were walking. Keigo could only stupidly fixate on how large his hands were.

He was silent for too long; the corner of Todoroki's mouth lifted into a sneer. "A picture would last longer."

Keigo flushed, all thoughts of smooth talking lost. "I'm not lost," he snapped.

Todoroki lifted an eyebrow, the picture of cold nonchalance. "So you're just stupid."

Taken aback back the drastic difference in personality he'd grown used to from the other Todoroki's, Keigo wasn't sure how to react. Brushing off the blatant insult and trying not to rile himself up, he said, "I was just—Rumi and I are already pretty good friends—I was, uh, hoping to get to know you better too?" He cringed at the way his voice lifted into a question.

"You're...trying to befriend your competition."

Keigo adopted his best self-effacing grin, the kind he reserved for softening cutthroat journalists. "What can I say, I'm a lover, not a fighter."

That did not seem to be the right answer. Todoroki, who had been steadily looking at him with poorly concealed derision, was now regarding him with blatant dislike.

"Of course," Todoroki said, "the great Hawks. Who else can't he charm?"

"Don't call me that!" It was out before he could help it. He'd said it reflexively, simmering annoyance bubbling up to sharp anger. He backtracked quickly, pushing his anger down as quickly as it'd come out. "I mean. I'd prefer you call me Takami. Or just Keigo, actually."

Todoroki seemed surprised at his outburst, an unreadable emotion crossing over his face. After a long pause in which he leveled Keigo with a searching gaze, he said, "All right, Keigo."

The way he sounded out his given name, softening the "k", lips pursed around the "o" caused a swirl of emotion to rise in his chest. Keigo could listen to Todoroki say his name for awhile.

"I guess it's only fair that you call me Touya, then."

Keigo cleared his throat at the sudden intimacy of exchanging first names that they'd achieved within the hour. "Sure, Touya," he said, testing out the name in his mouth.

"So." Touya fully turned to face Keigo, gaze just as intense, if not moreso, than the moment they first met. "You say you're not lost, and you didn't exactly deny being stupid."

"Of course I'm not stupid," Keigo snapped. _Just stupid for you,_ his brain supplied helpfully. He wanted to kick himself. "I just mean, of course we're competition and all, but shouldn't we still set a good example? Foster and demonstrate good inter-school relations? Just think of it kinda like...diplomacy!"

"Hm. Not interested."

Keigo gaped. Touya's expression was carefully blank, but his eyes danced with amusement.

"What?"

"Are you deaf too?" Touya's face was a perfect poker face, but his tone was more teasing than harsh. "I said I'm not interested, birdie."

Keigo sputtered. " _Birdie_? And hold on, this isn't just about the two of us. I'm talking about the relationships between our actual _schools_."

"I heard you. And as a representative of the interests of Hogwarts, I say that you're gonna have to try harder than that."

"I—wha—you're being an _ass_! And _birdie_? Seriously?" A _hot_ piece of ass, Keigo mourned internally. This was not going the way he'd planned. Even worse, his attraction to the mysterious Touya Todoroki was only growing stronger as well.

"Like I said, you're going to have to try _much_ harder than that. _Birdie_." He practically purred the last word.

Keigo could only choke out unintelligible noises, as Touya effectively ended the conversation and strode away.

The only thing Keigo could think to yell at his retreating back was, " _Birdie_?"

"It's much better than Hawks, isn't it?" he called back without breaking stride.

For once at a loss of words, Keigo could only open and close his mouth as his brain struggled to assemble a smart comeback. He finally gave up with a groan and returned to the ship. If his steps were lighter than before, then he could chalk it up to being chosen as Durmstrang champion and getting Kinoshita off his back for awhile. Or so he tried to tell himself.

He thought again of the way Touya looked at him, as if they were the only two in the world. He thought of the way the soft light cast Touya's features in sharp relief, the way the shadows from his eyelashes had elongated across his cheeks. The lazy smirk that slid across his face as he looked at Keigo.

Keigo flopped onto his bed, blinking up at the dark ceiling of his room.

"Oh god. I'm fucked."


End file.
